Chaos Free Zone Ahead

On Wednesday I went to the hospital for an outpatient procedure...nothing serious, but something my Doctor didn't see any sense in putting off. It is rare that DH or I find the need to spend time in a hospital and we are grateful daily for our health and never take it for granted. In fact, the anesthesiologist and nurses said they rarely see folks who don't take any medication or have any conditions or issues. I pray we can both keep it that way.

We were surprised when they handed us a buzzer that would go off when they were ready for us. And this screen was in the waiting room with the current status on patients for those in the waiting room.

 It reminded us of the ones at the airport, letting folks know what was happening behind the scenes.

Maybe that's the norm for every hospital, but we'd never seen it. We were impressed with the efficiency and kindness shown us throughout our visit. I convinced DH to run some errands and he replied, "I'll wait until they run you into the loading chute", LOL. Those of you who are ranch wives will understand the humor in his remark. I don't know if a day ever goes by that he doesn't have me laughing. He was back when I woke up and we were back at the ranch in time for him to make his feed run.

My nurse turned out to be a gal who is one of our dayworker's girlfriend so we had a good visit before they knocked me out.

I wore a pair of hand knitted socks sent to me by a generous blog reader a few years ago and every doctor and nurse that walked by commented on my beautiful, happy socks so thank you, Nancy...your socks were a hit. :)

All is well and I am leisurely enjoying the last few days leading up to Christmas. I'm doing some baking, finishing up a little wrapping, and working on a quilt binding today. The bedrooms are spruced up and ready for guests and the fridge is stocked. There's brisket, sweet potatoes, and corn on the cob for dinner today and plans for some reading, a walk, and a nap. I planned to have everything pulled together by this past Tuesday evening so I wouldn't feel rushed and I'm thinking I need to make this an annual goal because it's really a nice way to spend the week before Christmas. Hustle and bustle's not in my nature anyway. I like to be productive, but I don't do chaos and taking time to enjoy the sweet peace of the season is just what the doctor ordered. 😊

Gotta go tend to pecans in the oven...I'll be back tomorrow with the recipe...yum!

On My Door

I've had the same Christmas wreath on my door for at least 20 years and I've been on the hunt for something new...something different. I didn't know what I wanted, but I'd know it when I saw it and I saw it HERE. This was it:

                                                

In an earlier post I shared this photo when I was working on it:

I finished it

 and I love the way it turned out!

I want to make a smaller one next that I can use during the year. The original is a 12" wreath. I biggie sized my version.

My mom doesn't have a cell phone, but she was at a gathering with some friends and one of them texted me about something. I had told mom about the wreath so I sent a picture to her friend, J, so mom could see it and J asked me to make her one. Of course...but not THIS Christmas. LOL. my fingers need a break anyway - that's a lot of weaving!

Let it Be Christmas Everywhere

That's the title of an Alan Jackson song that went through my head as I sat down to write this post. Oh, December! I love it. I love the anticipation of Christmas. All the planning and baking and decorating. I love the celebration of Christ... the traditions... the memories. I love the quiet moments. I love having a houseful even though we all have to share one teeny bathroom. We get by pretty well.

My dad was in the Air Force and he was stationed in Denver with a good friend who had 8 kids... and one bathroom. He posted a morning schedule outside the bathroom. Everyone got 15 minutes. If you were late, you were out of luck. 😏 I'll bet those kids learned the importance of being on time!

I used to stress out about Christmas, but I've gotten wise in my old age. No stress allowed. However, like everyone else, the list of things to do is long. And for some unknown reason I decided I needed to paint a bedroom 2 weeks before Christmas - a bedroom with bad paneling no less. It's actually my sewing room that masquerades as a guestroom on occasion. Sigh. Who does that?!
A crazy person.
Guilty.

It took me two days because I had to use Kilz and then paint and we have 9' ceilings. I worked on two walls at a time and moved everything from one side of the room to the other. Done! Now if I can only remember where I stashed everything when I get back to sewing!

We had the Sale Barn Christmas Party Thursday night - always a fun gathering, but we didn't stay late as we were both plumb tuckered out. They had a really good band that played the best music and I remember a time when we would have danced until the last note was played. Thursday we lasted about 10 songs.

I finally got the tree decorated. It's not a magazine worthy tree, but it's filled with memories from the past 31 years and it brings me such joy as I unpack each ornament:

Today I am attempting to make a wreath I saw online:

And the house is filled with the smell of Christmas goodies baking in the oven. I asked DH and the kids to each choose their favorite because I was not making 20 different goodies this year. DH wanted praline pecans so I sorted through lots of recipes because I really didn't have one. I'll share them in a few days because I need to make more. Let me just say these are ADDICTIVE and I think they're going to become everyone's favorite.

My mom is arriving next week. She'll be here for 9 days so I'm working on a grocery list because I am hoping to avoid the grocery store over Christmas. She mailed a package of stocking stuffers because she said she wouldn't have room for them in her suitcase. My mom is very thoughtful...she even remembers Skeet

I'm also enjoying stitching binding on a Scrappy Christmas quilt as we watch the WNFR each evening although we have a hard time keeping our eyes open past 9.

I hope that you too are taking time for all the things that bring you joy as we close in on Christmas

Snow Day Continued

I had too many photos from the snow this weekend to pile it all into one post so this is Snow Day: Part II:

Brought to you by Skeet:

Who's first order of business is to check in with the local feline supervisor

Our chicken yard was transformed:

Into an igloo!

The cats have taken up refuge

With the chickens:

And guineas

With 12 chickens and 6 guineas, the coop is full, but don't tell the cats because this is where I find them on a regular basis:

At least I think they're cats. Maybe they're just channeling their inner chicken. Better start laying eggs if they want to hang out in the nesting boxes.

Skeet secures the perimeter

Before taking time out for play

Rabbits beware

Hound dog at play

can you say HAPPY?

Skeet's got life figured out

No stress allowed

Life is good

Jump in with both feet

                               

or in this case, 4 feet

I could learn a lot from this hound dog